The temptation is to label the Mets' off-season a disaster, but it doesn't seem so out of character for the Mets. It is a Mets offseason. The foundation of the Queens baseball club is still very much the Queens baseball club. Even if the clown car is upgraded to an SUV, it is still a clown car.
The Mets were always going to be embarrassed by Billy Eppler, even after they settled on a GM. Eppler still has a team to improve. When all was said and done, this wasn't a team that was close to.500.
We should have known what was going to happen when Noah Syndergaard took his hammer to Anaheim, and didn't hesitate to tell anyone that he hadn't talked to the Mets since receiving his qualifying offer. It was easy to go to the Angels. Maybe the Mets were too happy to take the draft pick compensation for a pitcher that no one is sure can make two starts in a row without watching his arm break off and end up in the fifth row behind the bench. For a player who had come up through their system, and had been through a lot of rehabilitation, a phone call probably isn't too much to ask.
Steven Matz signed with St. Louis last night, and it appears the Mets are on the other side of the coin. He had promised to come back to the Mets with whatever offer he was getting elsewhere so they could match it or not.
The last one is very good. Cohen has barely had the Mets for a year, so his frame of reference for dealing with players' agents is limited. Cohen amassed his billions and we can be certain that he acted on the up and up and was honest with everyone. It is always gratifying to see billionaires stamp their feet and throw their toys about when things don't go as they thought they would, even though we may never get one truly over on billionaires.
There are a lot of reasons Matz wouldn't want to go back to Queens. Everyone uses the Mets as leverage because they are always desperate for the headlines of a big signing to compete with the big bad in The Bronx, and they have money to throw around. It wouldn't be a surprise if Matz got the inside info about the Mets and the people who are talking. Matz would know all the bad things that come with being a Met, now that their loudmouth owner is unable to keep his thoughts to himself. Who needs that shit? Matz and his reps would have been aware of the team's search for a GM.
Matz and his reps might have concluded that a team that had to settle for a GM not even on the original shopping list or the second draft might not have a plan to turn the team into a winner.
Cohen is angry because he is doing something to himself. He came into MLB with a lot of swagger, but was surprised that agents and players were going to use that neon sign as a way to get someone else to pay up. Cohen told everyone that the Mets would spend X on a client, so it's not hard to convince other GMs.
The Mets' down-list GM still has holes in the rotation and centerfield to fill, all with an owner getting more bellicose, who both have made it clear how easily they can be played. Meet the Mets, greet them...
